I set my mug down carefully. “Okay.”
His brow furrows. “Okay what?”
“Okay, I’m done pretending.”
He goes very still.
My heartbeat picks up. “You know something, Gavin.”
“I know a lot of things.”
“No.” I lean forward slightly, keeping my voice low so I don’t startle Aidan. “You know somethingabout us. About why we’re here. About what’s happening. And you’re not telling me.”
His jaw flexes once, hard. “Kayley?—”
“Don’t.” My voice comes out sharper than I mean it, and I swallow, trying again. “I’m not trying to pick a fight. I’m trying to survive. And I can’t do that if you keep me in the dark.”
He looks at me for a long beat, eyes unreadable. Then he reaches out and brushes his knuckles along my cheek, so gentle it almost breaks me. “We’re handling it,” he says.
My stomach twists. “That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I’m giving you right now.”
I pull back, heat rising in my chest—not anger exactly. Something worse.
Fear.
Because Sophie did this too. She kept things close to her chest until the last minute. She tried to protect me by not telling me everything, and she died with secrets still in her teeth.
I won’t do that again.
I open my mouth to push— and the alarm blares.
It’s a violent sound, sudden and sharp, cutting through the cabin like a knife.
Aidan startles and begins to cry.
Gavin is on his feet instantly, moving so fast my brain lags behind. His hand goes to the gun safe by the wall like it’s instinct. He snatches the radio from the hook.
“Zone Six,” he barks into it. “Talk to me.”
Static. Then Rhett’s voice, tight. “Perimeter breach attempt. East ridge. Two contacts. Possibly three. They hit a blind spot for eight seconds—eight—then backed off.”
My blood turns to ice.
Gavin’s eyes snap to me. “Stay here.”
I clutch Aidan, trying to soothe him, but my hands are shaking.
“Gavin—”
“Kayley.” His voice is low now, dangerous. He crosses the room fast and cups my face, forcing me to look at him. “Listen to me. You stay in this cabin. Lock the door behind me. If anyone knocks, you don’t answer. If you hear anything, you go to the safe room. Understood?”
My throat is tight. “But?—”
“Understood,” he repeats, harder.
I nod because I can’t do anything else.
